I know what everyone is looking for. It’s the Unicorn horse, the well behaved, well schooled horse that is pleasant in nature, doesn’t cost a fortune and is sound! A horse to keep you safe and happy while you ride around with a smile.
These horses are few and far between and often sell by word of mouth well before they get advertised.
But have you stopped to think about why there are so few of these unicorns around?
First let’s discuss price. These horses take many years to make. Many outings. Lots of training and experiences and hours and hours of time under saddle. They certainly don’t get created overnight.
Budget, a lot of people simply can’t afford the budget of one of these unicorns. So they may settle for one with less training or specific breeding and that’s OK! You’ve just got to work with the horse you have in front of you. BUT keep in mind that if you’ve mis matched yourself with your chosen horse that you may well end up putting them back on the for sale merry to round.
I think mostly the reason there are so few unicorns out there goes back even further… to the early training and breaking in stage. Too many horses are rushed through this stage and expected to cope at what we throw at them without having been given the skills to understand what is being asked of them.
Breaking in
How do you define it? What is it that you expect from a horse that is broken in?
I know what I expect. I’d expect a horse that is broken in to:
🐴Have good ground manners
🐴To remain focused on their handler
🐴To accept the halter and be easily caught
🐴To be easy to lead
🐴To be able to have their feet picked up without a fight
🐴To stand tied up quietly
🐴To be able to yield their hind quarters to pressure
🐴To be soft and responsive on the lunge or training rope
🐴To feel relaxed and comfortable about what their human is doing without feeling anxious or worried.
🐴To be accepting of the bit and bridle
🐴To be accepting and comfortable with saddle
🐴To stand still at the mounting block and not flinch when stirrups are moved around
🐴To be responsive to the leg and aids
🐴To go forward without resistance
🐴To turn off your leg using gentle rein contact as well
🐴To stop without resistance
🐴Walk, trott and canter under saddle calmly and responsively
I have so many horses come to me at all different levels of their training and it’s surprising how many are missing some quality basics even if they’re already broken in. Some horses I see may even be competing or out and about doing things but they may be missing a lot of these basics that really would make life easier for them and their owners.
To create a horse that I would consider well trained takes time. Lots of it. It also takes consistency. It takes dedication and it takes patience.
I remember reading somewhere a long time ago, “You’re either training a horse or untraining it.”
This is so true. You can send a horse off for training and take it home and it goes well for a while and things start to fall apart. You may not be as firm or as consistent as your trainer, you may not quite have the knowledge of how to further their education.
But it’s OK! The good news is these horses are amazingly willing and forgiving creatures. We are only human and we get things wrong from time to time. But we can always try to be the best version of us we can be to give these animals what they need. If we know better we need to do better.
So this should increase our desire to learn more, to better ourselves, to give our horses the best version of ourselves, so they in turn give us the best version of their horsie selves that they can!
Keep at the regular lessons even if only once a month and make sure you stay on top of any little niggles along the way before they get too hard to manage.
If a horse goes through life without having the best start, they may have gone to a breaker who didn’t get the job done right. They may have had an owner with limited funds who couldn’t send the horse to be trainer for the desired period. They may have had an owner who bought too soon and didn’t have the knowledge to teach them more. The horse may act up because they didn’t understand the question posed at them. They may have got fearful on the float because they didn’t have the coping skills to get them through it.
If they go through life with holes in their education there is always going to be fear and anxiety, there is going to be behavioural issues due to not understanding their rider. They’re going to struggle in day to day life because they may simply not have the tools in their tool box of training to get through the day. A horse with poor education is far more likely to end up on the for sale merry go round than one who has good training.
So how can we all help our horses?
We can keep learning ourselves. We can read, we can watch others, we can get hands on experience. We can have lessons, go to clinics and we can try to be better.
You can send your horses to a trainer to have their basics filled in. This is by far the best start you can give your horse. You can have their knowledge extended by teaching them the next step. I always encourage people to come and watch me work their horse when they can, it really helps them understand the foundations I’m giving their horses and the methods they can use to continue at home.
You can start your youngster earlier. I do not mean backing them earlier I mean doing the basics and groundwork. Teaching them to pick up their feet. Teaching them to lead, tie up and be accepting of a bridle and or saddle (depending on their age and mental maturity of course). You may start teaching them to focus and even begin with long reining. Take them for walks. Take them down the road, to the park or the beach. Get out and explore from the ground! Teach them to stand at the mounting block, you don’t have to get on! Keep the training age appropriate though. Toddlers don’t have long attention spans.
Don’t cut corners!! If you can’t afford to get a professional to do it for you or with you then take the time to do the basics yourself. Don’t just skip them and jump to the next step. They need to be comfortable and relaxed with all you do, not just accepting while they’re shitting themselves on the inside.
The better and more solid an education we can give our horses, the less likely you will find them unsuitable to your purpose, the less likely you’ll have issues under saddle or on the ground. You’ll have a happy and healthy relationship with your horse based on trust and acceptance not an attitude of begrudging compliance.
When things go well we feel happy and relaxed, we enjoy our horse time and the horses enjoy themselves. You’ll find yourself far less likely to think of selling your horse because it simply isn’t suitable and you will realise that filling in the gaps in their knowledge and or yours will help you be a better horse person.
So don’t cut the corners, skip ahead, rush their training or accept less than your own best efforts.
Be the best horse person you can be to create a better class of horses for those up and coming riders.